Rhaburb Leather® – A material with sustainable success

Tanning is the most important step in leather production. The choice of material and tanning agents is decisive for the later quality and compatibility of leather goods. At Oberwerth, we therefore pay highest attention to sustainable and gentle tanning processes when selecting our leather.
While seeking for a particularly soft, environmentally friendly and compatible leather for our camera straps, we have come across a unique and innovative process for tanning leather. A process whose special feature is the selection of the raw materials used for tanning: rhubarb root extracts. Rhubarb Leather® is thus purely vegetable tanned and therefore so skin friendly that it can be used without hesitation even for babies and toddlers. In addition, it impresses with its anti-allergenic properties.

100% Made in Germany – already with rhubarb cultivation

The tanning agents necessarily required for tanning are extracted from the roots of the rhubarb plant. The rhubarb roots used come from regional cultivation. Even with the raw materials, it was important for the inventers of the Rhubarb Leather® to use a domestic and uncomplicated plant. In addition to rhubarb, the cowhides also come from Germany, which are then processed in a tannery in Bavaria. For ecological reasons, the manufacturer keeps transport distances as short as possible. Rhubarb is a renewable resource and leather is biodegradable. After tanning, the manufacturer returns the plant residues to the ecological cycle by composting. The result is a sustainable product in every respect: Rhubarb Leather®

No chemicals used – particularly allergy-friendly

Vegetable tanning with rhubarb does not require chromium salts and heavy metals. This makes the leather particularly skin-friendly and breathable. The European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation (ECARF) has certified it due to the fact that Rhubarb Leather® is also ideally suited for people with (chrome) allergies. It can therefore be optimally used for products with direct skin contact, such as our camera straps.

The feel and smell of Rhubarb Leather® are also particularly pleasant. The structure of the cowhide remains intact, while at the same time the leather is particularly soft and supple, making it extremely comfortable to wear. Experts call this the “cashmere effect”. In addition, Rhubarb Leather® has a more subtle and sweeter fragrance than conventional tanned leather. All this makes Rhubarb Leather® a high-quality, special and unique product.

We use Rhubarb Leather® for our camera strap RHEIN as well as the wrist strap ISAR.